Hyperloop for cargo transportation in Sultanate?

“The issue is: What’s the strategy for Omani ports? Are the ports in Oman going to become a hub for freight distribution across the region? Right now they aren’t, but of course, they are aspiring to!” he said.

Hyperloop-based passenger and freight transportation is being explored in a number of countries, including India, United States, and the United Arab Emirates. Capsules (or pods) carrying passengers and cargo capsules are sent zooming through airless tubes using a combination of electric, maglev and other technologies. Typical speeds are in excess of 1,000 km/hour — equivalent to speeds achieved by airplanes flying at 30,000 feet. Consequently, travel between cities will be reduced from hours to minutes.

While the first hyperloop projects are currently in an advanced stage of design in places like India (Mumbai-pune) and the UAE (Dubai-abu Dhabi), Earle believes that regulatory approval will come through first for freight transportation and not passenger travel per se.

“Regulatory approval is a key issue once the project or even a test track is built,” said the expert. “It is potentially easier to get regulatory approval for freight than it is for people, for obvious reasons. So the question becomes: Will the first stretch of track be used for freight only or with people; it will probably be for freight only. So you need a track which has a business case for freight, and I believe that the first hyperloops that get constructed will piggyback off freight connections because the economic model has to be there for investors to come in to make money on freight.”

It is envisaged that a hyperloop integrated with (Picture for illustration only) ports will allow for palletised freight (as opposed to containerised freight as present) to be discharged directed onto the high-speed system at a ‘dry port’, for example, and then shipped to distribution points outside the city. The use of trucks for freight transportation will be dramatically reduced as a result.

In a presentation at the IRU World Congress, Earle also challenged countries in the Gulf and Middle East region to consider a region-wide transportation system based on hyperloop technologies. “Is there a possibility of creating a Middle East transportation network where all the cities are no more than an hour apart? What we were trying to do with Hyperloop One is for Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Oman, Saudi, Qatar and everybody else (to be interconnected); the vision was for a transportation network all over the Middle East — not just for one country,” he said.

Additionally, the wider knock-on effect for any country that develops a hyperloop can be immense, according to the expert. “Job creation will be enormous. Wherever the first hyperloops are built, there could be up to 10,000 new high tech jobs,” he said.

“So the business case for the hyperloop is more around job creation than it is around transport for the first phase. This is especially relevant to the Middle East given the very high numbers of young, very well-educated people here. So it’s a huge opportunity!”